Kicking Horse Bike Park - Trail Crew Update #1 - 2010 From story located at: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Kicking-Horse-Bike-Park-Trail-Crew-Update-1-2010.html The straight goods on Kicking Horse Bike Park, straight from the trail crew's fingertips. The hardest part of our job right now is the mounting anticipation. Every day at work we are recreating gorgeously groomed trails that have only recently emerged from their winter deep freeze...and not riding them. There is so much to do to open a bike park, we haven't had time to poach our own trails. But so be it, the fruit will be that much sweeter when ripened. Kicking Horse Bike Park opens June 11 (for weekends, June 25 all week!) The 10th season of KHBP is about to kick off, and we have another big year planned and anticipated. The excitement is tangible, if you consider dirt to be excitement. And by tangible I mean I can feel a lot of it with my fingertips that stick out of my worn gloves. We haven't yet worked our fingers to the bone, but we've certainly been working our gloves to the finger. We've been moving everything we can that gets in the way of sweet flow. What is going on up here for 2010? Well, let me tell you first from a resort perspective, then from a trail crew perspective. Probably the biggest deal is the opening of the Catamount chair for bikes. The gondola will still be taking riders to the top (1,200m up), but now there will be a choice for those who want more frequent, shorter rides. Though, keep in mind the Catamount is a fixed grip lift, so there will be plenty of time for refreshments, smack talking and tweeting about what a wonderful time you are having sitting on the lift. Because of this new access to the lower green trails, we have changed the upper mountain pretend greens to the blues they really are. This is good news because I think we have terrified and exhausted enough beginners with the wildness of the upper mountain. Now they will be able to train their bodies and their minds with the gentler slopes of the lower mountain before heading up into the alpine. Extended play has switched to Friday nights, which is where it probably always should have been. This means visitors and locals alike can start their weekend with uploads as late at 7:45, all summer long. A bike instructor course is being held June 7-9 at KHBP (pre-season), and another in July. Learn to become a better rider while becoming almost godlike to mere mortals. To register see www.professionalmountainbikeinstructor.com The Western Cup, the first-ever dual BC/Alberta cup race, and the BC cup final, will be running at the end of August. Local Riley Suhan crushed the competition last year (when it was only an Alberta cup race), but he'll have trouble beating his time this year as we are adding a couple berms at the bottom to reduce the grade and increase Wild Rose's life expectancy. Which is a great transition to... What's new from the trail crew perspective: Dirt Jumps: So stoked that these things are already standing and waiting to go. This is the first year we haven't had to rebuild them on a ski slope. Now they are in a dedicated spot they will only get better. LYM: Despite what a recent press release from the marketing dep't says, LYM is a single line trail that will NOT be open for June 11. There is still much work to be done and will be unrideable until it is completed. Patience, young warriors. It will be worth the wait. But before that, we have a whole bike park to spread butter on, and half of it is still under snow! Here are some reminders of what the wait is for: Rock N Roll: The old entrance to this classic has been scrubbed and a brand spanking new one is almost ready to go. The raking out of the berms was the last thing we did at the end of last season. She has never felt the caress of a bike tire, despite Captain Morgan's defeated pirate attacks. After a winter of snow compaction we are stoked to see how they turned out. We need to add a bridge and scratch in the connector to the original trail at the first tower, but it should be good to go when the snow goes. Here's a shot from last year: Claim Jumper: We completely retooled the new berms at the bottom that were added last year. Superberm: We intend to create a short new section to improve the trail that crosses the first ski run, and we sorted out our drainage problem at the plywood corner so we should be able to make that feature less embarrassing. Meanwhile, we've been polishing the lower half. It's so smooth it looks botoxed. We've got a bunch more projects we want to do, but I don't want to mention them just yet in case we run out of time. We don't want to get chased around by a disappointed, angry mob. Besides, I've got to have something else to write about all summer. Here we go again. Better than ever. And I'm not just saying that. While the rest of the world may still be struggling with recession, Kicking Horse Bike Park is in full progression. See you here. At $199 for a season pass, I better see you here. Ride on. Crowe www.kickinghorseresort.com
I Wish! Saw the article on Pinkbike and wanted to share it with folks heading up there as an alternative or additive to their Summer adventures. I look forward to checking it out next year. Looks and sounds awesome
